


Romance in Aisle 23

by memorizingthedigitsofpi



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Meet Cute AU, Romance, awkward social encounters, picking something up at the grocery store
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-18
Updated: 2017-09-18
Packaged: 2018-12-31 04:22:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12124422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memorizingthedigitsofpi/pseuds/memorizingthedigitsofpi
Summary: Prompt: You were trying to reach for a box of cereal and a whole shelf’s-worth of cereal boxes fell on you. Here let me help.





	Romance in Aisle 23

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pobmmm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pobmmm/gifts).



Fitz trudged his way around the 24 hour Tesco's, trying to find the will to carry on.

There was just something about the music in a grocery at gone past 1am that made shopping in the middle of the night even more depressing than it might otherwise be.

The thing was, though, that he did this on purpose. Shopping at odd hours meant that there were never any line ups. The shelves were fully stocked, the aisles were clear of children and dotty seniors, and you could whip round the entire shop in half the time of the usual weekend afternoon trip.

The downside to his method, the madness as it were, was that he almost always ended up doing his shopping on a Friday night. Which meant that he wasn't doing anything _else_ on a Friday night. Which meant that society as a whole deemed him to be somehow "lesser" than other people.

Or at least that's how the depressing store music always made him feel.

Honestly, who was this playlist created by? Someone who'd been dumped five minutes before?

* * *

Jemma hummed along to the Sarah MacLachlan song playing on the speakers as she picked out some fruits and veg. She was feeling a strange jolt of adrenaline that she didn't usually have while grocery shopping. It was due mostly to the adventurous nature of wandering around an empty produce section at an hour of the night when she'd usually be fast asleep. 

She'd heard of 24-hour groceries before, but this was her first time actually using one. Well, outside of daylight hours, at least.

It felt thrilling and taboo to push a cart around a deserted store in the middle of the night. Suddenly, choosing between instant and steel cut oats for her breakfasts in the coming week felt _interesting_ instead of bland.

And that was before the loud crash at the other end of the aisle sent her pulse racing.

* * *

Fitz looked down at his shopping list, scrawled on the back of a receipt, and squinted at his own hand writing. What did that even say? Croutons? Why would he buy croutons? He hated salad and-

Oh.

Cereal.

Right.

Heaving a sigh, he slumped his way to the end of the aisle and then looked down the length of the store. The place was massive. He was in aisle 4 and he needed to get to aisle 23. _Twenty-three_. What kind of a store needed that many aisles? Really?

But this was one of the advantages of shopping when there was no one around. He couldn't even see any employees, the place was that empty.

Grinning devilishly, he got a good grip on his shopping trolley and started running. Once he had a good dose of speed on, he jumped onto the back of it and let it coast along the freshly-washed floors.

Except the trolley he'd chosen had a wonky wheel.

It wasn't that bad just at first. He kept it fairly well in line right up to about aisle 20, but when he tried to slow down to make the turn into the cereal aisle, he lost all control and ended up flying at speed into a pyramid-shaped display of Weetabix.

"Ohhhhh," he groaned, trying to sit up in the chaos of boxes.

His shifting movement caused a particularly precarious box to drop down onto his head.

"Of course."

* * *

Jemma rushed over to the scene of the crash and took in the situation rapidly. He was talking, so he was conscious, and he was moving, so there most likely wasn't a back injury. Both good signs. 

She cast a wary eye at the still slowly toppling stack of boxes. There were some sharp corners there, but nothing likely to cause any permanent damage.

"Here," she said, holding out her hand to the poor man still laid out on the floor. "Let me help you up."

They both grunted as she tugged him to his feet, and then they were standing face to face, closer together than strangers usually would be.

Jemma licked her lips and tried not to stare. "Are, um. Are you alright?"

* * *

Fitz was blushing hard and trying not to die of mortification. 

"Fine," he squeaked, his voice cracking for that extra added bit of embarrassment. Just in case he wasn't _already_ wishing he could spontaneously combust. Or at least disappear.

Clearing his throat, he tried again. "Fine. Yeah. I just- Cart, ehm. Got away from me. A bit. That's all."

He'd been shopping here in the middle of the night for weeks now and never once run into anyone other than Gus, the lone cashier. Of _course_ the one night he made a complete and total arse of himself there'd have to be a beautiful woman there to see it.

"Ehm. Thanks, though. For, y'know." He gestured awkwardly behind himself. "I should probably-"

He turned and started to gather up the boxes. He'd probably have to buy the particularly damaged ones.

Why couldn't he have run into a tower of Fruit Loops or something like that?

"I'll help you."

He looked on in surprise as she knelt down beside him and started sorting boxes into damaged and not. He'd sort of expected her to take the opportunity to run.

* * *

"I'm Jemma, by the way," Jemma said. She curled her hair behind her ears and flashed a shy smile. "I've only just moved here recently. Is midnight shopping usually this exciting?"

"Fitz."

She felt a glow of pride that she'd managed to ge a chuckle out of him. She wasn't usually all that funny, or so she'd been told.

"And no, it's not. It's usually just me and Gus and the most depressing music in the world."

Jemma felt a little twinge of disappointment. She'd sort of vaguely been thinking she might give Fitz her number or something, but if he was already seeing someone-

"Who's Gus? Is he your-?" She left it open, hoping he'd fill in the appropriate blank.

_Please say friend? Please say friend?_

"What? No!" He looked both confused and slightly alarmed. "He's the pot-head cashier who works overnights."

Jemma pressed her lips together so as not to laugh. "The one who was outside head-banging when I came in?" she asked in amusement.

Fitz laughed again. "Yeah, probably. He usually is. He can't stand this music any more than I can, so I usually just poke my head out the door to let him know I'm ready to check out."

* * *

The way Jemma frowned, Fitz figured he'd said something wrong. 

"What's wrong with the music?" she asked.

He looked at her in disbelief. "It's only the most depressing playlist I've ever heard in my life," he pointed out. "I can only listen to so much Adele before I start having flashbacks to all of my exes."

Jemma let out a little snort of laughter. It was adorable. He wondered if he could make her do it again.

"You really hadn't noticed?" he asked.

Jemma shrugged. "It just seemed like an 'adult contemporary' station, or whatever they call them. I can't say I was paying much attention." She cocked her head to listen to a particularly heartbroken woman crooning along with a background of cellos. "I see what you mean, though."

They finished stacking boxes, and then Fitz got up and held out a hand. "Let me return he favour?" he joked.

Jemma smiled as she stood up, and he decided he didn't particularly want to give her hand back. Not if he didn't have to.

"There's a, uh. There's an all-night coffee shop two blocks from here," he said, giving her hand a squeeze and hoping his palm wasn't too sweaty. "If you-?"

* * *

Jemma grinned and squeezed back. "Let me just put my perishables back," she said with a wink. "I don't want to worry about curdling milk."

She winced at the completely unromantic image, but Fitz just laughed again and agreed that he should do the same.

As they brought their trolleys up to the cash, Jemma stopped Fitz from going to find Gus. She was feeling bold after all of her middle-of-the-night adventures, and she didn't want to waste that feeling.

"I'm just going to go grab one of those boxes of cereal," she said. Then she took a breath and tried to look flirtatious. "So we'll have something to eat... for breakfast."


End file.
